Meet the top 11 wealthiest people in China

Despite a slowing economy, China's richest business figures have retained their immense wealth after years of explosive growth.

Zong Qinghou is now officially China's richest man after his unprecedented success as the chairman of Wahaha Group, the nation's leading drink producer. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)

It was a rough year for China's richest individuals, who collectively saw their wealth shrink in a year when the Shanghai Stock Exchange fell 23 percent.

According to the brand new 2012 HuRun Rich List, 469 of China's 1,000 wealthiest people saw their wealth decrease, while just 291 saw their wealth increase. And there were just 251 billionaires (in US dollars) on this year's list, 20 fewer than there were last year.

The average wealth of the 1,000 wealthiest people in China was $860 million, down 9 percent from the previous year. But to put that in perspective, the average wealth was still nearly double what it was in 2008.

For the first time in 13 years, manufacturing topped property as the key source of wealth.

And one other notable observation from HuRun — people born in the Year of the Rabbit make the best entrepreneurs. A full 12.8 percent of people on this year's Rich List were born in the Year of the Rabbit, outnumbering people born in the Years of the Pig and Ox combined.

#11 Yang Huiyan is worth $5.2 billion

Change from 2011: -$.4 billion

How she made her fortune: Yang, one of the richest woman in China, is the majority shareholder in Country Garden Holdings, a property development firm based in Guangdong province. The value of the company dropped slightly in the past year, decreasing Yang's wealth.

#5 Liang Wen’gen is worth $7.3 billion

Change from 2011: -$3.7 billion

How he made his fortune: Liang owns 58 percent of the Sany Group, a manufacturer of construction machinery. In the past year, he purchased a German machinery builder for $400 million, though the share price of Sany dropped, causing a dip in his fortune.